Education in the Margins (Sticky note edition: 2021)

Sticky notes from my desk and LDSPMA takeaways.

Betterment

Some things are good for a time. And only a time.

I should be as good at keeping an experience account as I am at keeping an expenditure account. The former will foster gratitude and joy. The latter may make me wiser.

To singles who want to be married: “Do not give up hope. And do not give up trying. But do give up being obsessed with it . . . if you forget about it and become anxiously engaged in other activities, the prospects will brighten immeasurably.” ­­– President Hinkley (Women of the Church)

We have all been powerfully affected by women.

I can love imperfect things. I can create imperfect things. I am an imperfect being of great worth.

Current Events

MyEducator just wants to be in the room where it happens with WGU.

First day back at the office and I remembered my computer password on the first try. #success

There is enough and to spare in the earth. We don’t often treat it like that, though.

Musings

I can’t keep my happiness to myself—I must talk about and share it if I can.

Was Nick Fury a good project manager and did he do a good job assembling the Avengers?

The Earth experience is a fraction of your eternity. It is second grade, if you will. You are not expected to make every ordinance or become perfect here. But be good and serve others and participate and progress as you can.

Do we live our lives as Hallmark Christmas movies? We let Christmas be the setting but leave it out of the actual story and all of the important plot.

No one really knows when to quit.

"Ready" isn't always what you think it looks like.

They should seek the Lord,…though he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)

Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (John 3:18)

"Light attracts people." But we must be more than moths to a flame.

Media Connections

Technically, Charles Dickens partially self-published A Christmas Carol.

“Taking coals to Newcastle” a Britishism for wholly unnecessary actions.

“The malevolent ivy—always an enemy to grace—”  Well, agree to disagree, Rebecca.

“Panacea to pain.” And “Grist to our hungry mill.”

“Nothing so shaming, so degrading, as a marriage that had failed.” (Rebecca) So people try to hide the shame from their friends and family, committing to long lies. Not me. I never want to live a lie.

“Chewing gum and bailing wire” is an idiom for stringing something together unexpectedly.

In "The School of Athens" Fresco by Raphael, there's a person waving in the background, and I've found my portrait kindred spirit. 

It is not in the interest of the ruling class to preach a preexistance—if you are all children of a God, the justification of slavery is invalidated. Humans corrupt correct doctrines with their self interests. 

Why do we love the Regency era? It's living aspects of "the dream"—you have people doing things for you. 

All animators can come together to hate on The Good Dinosaur. 

I've always wondered: Do you know when you're working on a flop? And the animator panel said that yes, you do. But you do your best anyway. (On the flipside, you don't know that something is going to be a runaway success.)

Quips and Quotes

Every day’s a holiday when I’m with you.
—seriously, how do you keep track of them all?

She loved him, which was a greater credit to her heart than to his merit, for he never acted as he ought.

“I always want to write poetry after talking with you.” ­– Aspen

"If your own work bores you, you can't imagine someone else liking it." - Christ Crow

"I have not yet written my best book." – Tracey Hickman

"The nice thing about being an author is you can recreate your childhood nightmares as novels." – Janette Rallison

"Being a light can mean naming the shape of the darkness." – James Goldberg

Know Thyself

Comparison is the thief of joy.

I tend to believe I can do anything—and I try not to prove myself wrong.

My SOUL is well suited for this season of the world. I will not just endure the current moment—I can embrace the future with faith.

What do you want? Love and joy. How great is the joy of the soul that repenteth.

I am equally verbose in philosophy and frivolity.

I’m on a path, not a pedestal.

Who clipped the wings of my dreams? And why was it mostly . . . me? Maybe that’s why I vehemently support creativity in others—there are enough dream killers out there: we need more believers and wing healers.

My time is too precious to waste on someone who doesn’t want me.

Do I have assumed relationship trauma? My reaction to a Facebook post to a friend who posted about a guy who “makes me so happy” and “treats me so well” and “loves me for who I am unconditionally” and “is the best thing that ever happened to me” is it’s a trap.

I’m a lover not a fighter and a writer.

I will accept and address criticism that I deserve. I will not accept criticism that I do not deserve—even if it would be easier just to let it go (and I will address its misapplication).

"You're not a bad editor." True. But what if you could be good at something else?

Sometimes I just need to put my money where my mouth is and my mouth where my heart is. 

What is it that you want to say? With my Marley story: God's mercy is great.

Ideas

“Singled Out”: Musings on being marginalized by marital status
“Paired Off”: the opposite

Symposium topic: The Death of Charlotte Lucas: An Essay on Opportunities for Women Outside of Marriage

Recommendations

BYU Personal Finance.

Todd B. Parker “True Doctrine Understood, Changes Attitudes and Behavior.”
“Christ is the teacher, the universe is His classroom, and His atonement is the curriculum.” The universe was designed to testify of Christ.

Eve by Susan Easton black

Death Coming Up the Hill Chris Crow

Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Start Making Chips (Maxwell Article)

6 Rules of Great Storytelling (Brian G. Peters article)

All That Makes Life Bright: The Life and Love of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Josi S. Kilpack

The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain

Ode to American English

Publishing stuff: 
https://thebookbreak.com/
https://press.barnesandnoble.com/ (e-books)
https://greenleafbookgroup.com/
http://www.brighamdistributing.com/ (necessary to get into LDS bookstores)
https://www.draft2digital.com/ (ebook distributor)

Poetry helper:
http://www.searchleaf.com/ (creating interesting word combos)

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

Education in the Margins (Sticky Note Edition)

 

Kaden Analogies

Don’t pay bills that you didn’t run up.

It would be like the vault door is open but no one walks by.

It’s like being in a congregation and the preacher’s trying to get you to say “Amen,” but you’re only there because your girlfriend wants you to be.

If you’re fighting a pterodactyl versus fighting a mountain lion, either one of them is going to kill you. It doesn’t matter which is the better fighter.

Betterment

What should I “be about?”

Mindful of all the living/little things

We reflect the light of Christ, which we must first welcome into our lives.

It’s easy to be annoyed with people and circumstances. Remember that you don’t know the whole story.

Current Events

Privilege is the dirty word of 2020

When tearing down monuments and pointing fingers at history in the name of Black Lives Matter becomes a French Revolution.

M.I. Horne hosted “women’s only indignation meetings”—where can I sign up for one of those? 😉

Musings

A woman: cursed with crippling selflessness

Where are the astronauts? (When did kids stop aspiring to greatness?)

We have a magpie friendship—we create/collect shiny things and then share them with each other.

People lied to me in high school and college about professionalism. I work with authors of business textbooks who respond to my emails with emojis sent from their iPhones.

Sometimes we give the people in the scriptures a hard time for not recognizing signs or for falling into wickedness again. But hey, I menstruate monthly, and somehow I’m still shocked every time it comes around. I only recognize the many signs after I see the blood.

Rachel and Lara are alike in choosing favorites and thinking the worst.

Even the word “misogyny” (hatred of or prejudice against women; mid 17^th Century origin) was around long before “misandry” (hatred of or prejudice against men; late 19^th Century origin).  

What is the human equivalent of a bird perching on a wire?

When was the first stroller introduced? (It’s a good Wikipedia search.)

No electronic system is more likely to work than when doing so would prove the user wrong in something. (reporting errors)

Separation of Church and State—Separation of work and love.

Media Connections

Lies of HSM: working with high school friends; unrealistic expectations for audience enthusiasm

Frozen 2 culture: “Then don’t go into fire” (Scarlet Pimpernel “Into Fire”)

M. Knight Shyamalan had The Last Airbender. Andrew Lloyd Webber had Love Never Dies. Paul Gordon had Pride and Prejudice: A New Musical. You are entitled to one glorious failure.

The Count of Monte Cristo to Sweeny Todd to Little Shop of Horrors

From Zero to Villain: Managing an Antagonist’s Arc (featuring Hans and Mother Gothel) (and the reverse, Zuko)

“You Matter to Me” from Waitress crossed with “Only Us” from Dear Evan Hansen. (It could swap places with “Suddenly Seymore” from Little Shop of Horrors.)

LTUE conference (or other) panel: Ethical Responsibilities of Authorship (where does the buck stop for what your content can do in society? Good and bad)

I like my musicals with overtones of social justice. But how sad to perform musicals about a class of people that could never afford to see a play about people like them (Little Shop, In the Heights, Hairspray)

“Laying a foundation for the sensation story of her own life” (Little Women)

From So You Want to Talk About Race: These conversations are never painless, but they can lessen pain. Intersectionality. We build policy to address needs. As needs change, policies should shift to reflect the new needs. We are building a better world, and that needs to happen step by step—because human nature doesn’t change in leaps. BUT the principles or doctrines, the ideals of this country—those remain.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: God’s final message to his creations: “We apologize for the inconvenience.”; The real problem of time travel is one of grammar. The term “future perfect” has been abandoned, since it was discovered not to be (Book 2, Chapter 15). ; Lunch as the center of spiritual life.

Know Thyself

You remind me a bit of my most recent almost—that’s why I’m afraid.

Brian B. has never followed up with me, never made me feel like there was anything beyond a first date.

I’m not fully awake until I’ve had at least one semi-passionate rant.

I feel things deeply and describe them well.

Am I the last sibling they choose to confide in?

Sometimes I converse by skipping from soapbox to soapbox like stepping-stones.

I don’t want to feel like I have to convince family members or friends that someone I’m dating is “good.” That will be a personal red flag for me.

Facts

There are vast amounts of fibreoptic cabling through the earth’s oceans that connect the globe to the internet.

2,300 people in India died in 2018 because of lightning.

Recommendations

11.22.63 Stephen King (not horror)

Miranda Hart (author)

The Blue Castle (book)

Stars and Moon (song)

Me and the Sky (Come from Away)

Podcasts: Hidden Brain, The Happiness Lab, The History of the English Language, The college Investor, Writing Excuses.

Education in the Margins, Winter 2019

I'm a big note-taker. But not everything I write down or learn is strictly related to the course. Much of life-long learning comes from this, 'education in the margins.'

Physical Science:

Experiments on Youtube: "Don't try that at home. There are idiots who've done it for you."

Be careful with your hearing. It doesn't come back. 

"Scriptures are like packets of light" -Richard G. Scott

"inasmuch" = proportionally. Alma 36:30

Powdered sugar is explosive: do with that what you will.

If you buy an older home, make sure it has copper, not aluminum wiring. 

Work at your marriage--it takes work to fight the entropy of  "increasing disorder."

The "When it rains, it pours" motto from Morton was coined just because they were the first company to figure out how to make salt that didn't stick together in humidity. 

"God tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go." - Galileo 

There are evidences of water on Mars, but no current water.

Skepticism doesn't kill science--it grows it. 

Science does the almost impossible and gets a picture of a black hole. The press immediately responds with, "are you trying to make it higher resolution?" Typical. 

We do need people who understand people. 

ELANG 430:

The bigger the font, the closer you have to look (preventing errors)

Don't "false foreshadow" and have details that don't matter.

X-files: "There's another alien thing, there's another government thing. there's an alien government thing."

Be suspicious of everything. 

That's the dream. Get paid to read books that you otherwise pay to read.

Learn to let go of commas and see big picture. 

Be liberal with praise, even when you're in a hurry. 

Jennifer Nielson: Psychology of Characters 

A happy reader is an engaged reader

First lines and chapters. Get to extrordinary ASAP. 

Twitter account: Brooding YA hero

Find what you like, become an expert, find a client

"I don't feel like being 'super Suzy' right now"
McKan's "Law": Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error. 

Book recommentations

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hegDRPE58N28pRVeSr8AJ0j67XQiA-WsFrSQwJu6hS8/edit

Art History:

"Dante is bae. Dante is hell bae."

Italian Renaissance: women of the time period plucked their eyebrows and their hairlines. Who knew?

"Satan somehow turns into a woman in the Catholic narrative. So, you know. I hate that." -Prof. Hale

Oh to be a tourist in the 70s, before sites were popular.

Single candle= God's presence

The first-ever known painting of Michelangelo was a copy of a print.

"For me, the fact that archetypes pop up in other cultures and beliefs is actually proof that God exists." -Prof. Hale

They killed the two Venetian glass makers so NO ONE else could have the Palace of Mirrors. 

"You know you'll have to ask him. Save it for the spirit world." -Prof. Hale

"Our brains are not as photogenic as we'd hope they could be." -Prof. Hale

Medieval History

"Oh, she's wearing pants? Feminist."-Prof. Wilcox

In chess, a pawn can become a queen, In Medieval times, a queen is merely a pawn. 

We are so worried about bloodlines, but, anciently it wasn't strange for a king to marry the female slave of a conquered people. 

"To what extent are you supposed to fight?"

Acting is 9/10 of action. Fake it til you make it. 

Middle English becomes a big mash-up because of wars and politics.

A loved one, an "other < love one another

culture doesn't translate in the Bible

Victorian Periodical 

Academic writing's basic purpose: to quote or be quoted.

Victorians did "Vinegar valentines" (anti-valentines)

Victorians were really in taxidermy.

You can't really know when people are telling the truth.

You torture the text long enough, it'll confess to anything

Middle class target why? "Poor people don't read, rich people don't care"-Joshua

Rubricated letters: Big fancy letters in Gothic text. 

The ubiquity strategy.

If you torture the text long enough, it'll confess to anything.

Famous authors in their own "write"

"If you use one word when you could use ten, you're not really trying." -Prof. Horrocks

Prof. "Did you study any women?"

J: "Yes."

Prof.: "Who?"

J: "Um...letters from a homestead woman..."
Prof.: "Yep. That's the story of women in literature."

Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel:

More than reading black words on a white page. 

Know that you're loved.

My Musings:

Write in complete sentences. Write incomplete sentences. 

Graduation= gradamnation (a life without student discounts, library access, etc.)

Macabre cards: Gothic Greetings, Bleak Birthdays, Horrid Holidays.

Recommendations/Favorites:

Do a fun interview with your kids every year and ask the same questions. You can make fun videos. 

Hugh Nibley "Pride Cycle" talk. 

Gunner glasses/ computer glasses: save your eyes from screens. 

Halloween stuff, Joyce Carol Oats short story: "Where are you going, where have you been"

"You belong with Steve" hilarious music video. 

"The Way of Joy" Greg Olsen

Tulip Magnolia trees

"These is My Words" Nancy Turner

Quotes:

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."-Albert Einstein

Education in the Margins, Fall 2018

Education in the Margins

Writing with Style:

The rhetorical device for “Yoda speak” is called anastrophe

Discussing “Joyas Voladores”: So frantic and fast-paced that I felt frazzled by it.

Sometimes classes work out like “syntax support groups.” You defend your choices and it helps you refine your work.

Viewing punctuation as traffic signals. A period really is a “full stop.”

The present is such a pleasant place.

“Use accuracy and restraint, like a burn to an in-law.” (certain style principles)

That hilarious moment when our professor forgot the projector screen was down and went to underline something: we brought a magic eraser for the mark, but it was there for quite a while.

Getting frustrated is part of the assignment.

“Variation in sentence types as well as length is a mark of the professional.”

 “Excess is the common substitute for energy” -Tuftee.

“It’s like we’re doing yoga, but with English.”

Punctuation is the unsung hero, determined more by choice than by rules. Dash their hopes with an em dash.

Reasons for letter writing: “You can’t ‘scent’ an email. You can put cologne on a letter.”

“A problem well-put is half solved” – John Dewey

Freelance Editing:

It’s very vulnerable to be a writer.

It can be “fine” even if it’s not “mine.”

Making every word count

Sometimes you strive not to burn bridges. Other times, you light the fire yourself.

Personalization pays off.

Just get a job and move from there.

“I have found that threatening works great.” -Professor Bills

Spain Culture and Civilization:

Practicas, Productos, Perspectivas.

So the Koran says not to drink alcohol, but the word is Arab, and their culture made great developments in the fermentation process. It’s hard to practice what you preach.

“Le digo por secreta, chicos: la vida es aburido.”; “Si escucho Ingles, me pongo como Franco”

 -Profe Stallings

“3 minutos de calidad y 2 horas de basura.” -Profe Stallings, movie review.

Everything is a reworking of Don Quijote.

The current art trend is Neo-Baroque.

Picaso could draw like an old Master at 15, and spent the rest of his life learning to draw like a 5-year-old.

We read to “entrar en la mente de alguien diferente”

“Become acquainted with real nobility as it walks the pages of history and science and literature.” -President Hinckley.

The Humanities: Our aspirations for the good and the beautiful

The moon is a symbol of Romanticism: it reflects reason, but is its own “ser.”

“lluvia de ideas” = brainstorm

Interview tips:
Practice your voice: Am I squeaky? Am I Star-Lord?
study and practice for an interview like you would for an exam.

European History:

“Oh, nobody falls in love” regarding the nobles of ruling countries.

The word “freelance” probably comes from the mercenaries (paid/professional soldiers) in the middle ages, also known as “free lances” because they worked without nationalistic ties.

“Quarantine” comes from the 40 days ships had to wait in the harbor during the plague outbreaks to prove that they were “safe” to allow in.

“hock es corpus mayum” (or something like that) is the Latin “spell” for transubstantiation (This is my body) Misinterpretation of this phrase gave birth to the popular phrase “Hocus Pocus”

Pre-internet days: “I remember when you just had to wonder about stuff instead of looking it up.” ; “I must be listened to”; “When it comes to revolutions, it doesn’t matter that the facts really are—it’s what the people believe.”; “No one say any of this in your Sunday School ever” (speculation of the fate of dictators) -Professor Carter.

Russians were literally “behind the times” in the 16^th century because they didn’t skip October 3-13^th like most other nations did.

Perks of being a professor: “I am paid to read and tell other people what I read.” -Professor Carter

“Cities eat people” – why there’s a higher death rate in urban areas than in the country.

“I don’t believe in changing the days of the week” – Regarding the finals week schedule.

Fighting European battles on colonial ground; Malaria has killed more people than any other disease in the history of the world ; Africa was called “White Man’s grave.”

“A lot more things get resolved in this era just because people die more frequently.” (Era of reformation)

Oliver Cromwell = The White Witch

What if Russia was France’s Frankenstein’s monster?

The mentality of everyone ever throughout history: “Let’s just blame the Jews for the political problems and the women for the social problems. We’re good.”

European Studies:

“I feel most at home when I am abroad.” -Professor H. Belnap

“Lifelong learner” is an ideal you should shape for yourself.

Geography molds people.

Everything looks different behind the iron curtain.

“A little taste of Freedom in the form of a Big Mac.” (The Baltics/Gorbachev)

“You have to learn acronyms to speak ‘European’”

People created schools to indoctrinate the children for nationalism.

Our modern trench coat came from the uniform for soldiers in the trench.

“Anxiety is now an existential condition of the modern world” – a therapist

“The French pride themselves on everything”

Book History:

Samuel Johnson, “sea of ink”

How can you navigate being approachable and not reproached?

“A book exchanged between lovers—notes on the text and notes to each other” – Tom Mole

I found the source of the word "Muggle?" : The Muggletonians, named after Lodowicke Muggleton, were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were the last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation.

My Musings:

How cool would it be to collaboratively annotate a well-loved and well-known book?

Where did the phrase “stem the tide” even come from?

She is strong

I am human, I can exhibit human emotion. I am allowed to exhibit negative emotion.

When did my generation stop wearing watches?

It is better to be at rock bottom with someone who knows how to climb than to be well-established with someone who will only fall.

I’m surrounded by companionable strangers.

An armchair traveler = a reader

Recommendations/Favorites:

How to write a great title
Sexy : Not sexy

“Woman in Gold” (movie about art in WWII)

Amy Cuddy, Power stance Ted Talk

A James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan was filmed at the Guggenheim. Look it up!

Contently.net ; ldsjobs.org ; moonlighting.org ; etc.

*Conversation with a Korean citizen overheard in the frontrunner: “Wait, you did military service?”
-“Yeah, we have that crazy neighbor named North Korea”

Book: “Policing the Veil” (or something like that)
“Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg
“How to live, work, and play when nobody has the time.”

TV show: “Slings and Arrows” a Canadian theatre company

Art-house cinema: “The Broadway” and “The Tower”. Get student passes to Sundance.

Words:

Splenetic: bad tempered, spiteful.
Epistemic: relating to knowledge (degree of validation)
Ecumenicalism: promotes cooperation among religious denominations.

Ostensibly: apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.

Education in the Margins 2018

We often see professors as experts in their field, but they are often also full of sage life advice, recommendations, and silly quotes. Below is a collection of Winter 2018's little thoughts and comments: education in the margins. 

Sci-fi (lit and film):

The written word=you can know thoughts vs. film=you can see and hear

Book-to-film adaptation is a surgical art.

Almost anything that happens in a film is potentially meaningful.

That man is playing Pokémon. He didn’t think we’d notice. But we did.

Hey David Een, you’re taller than the guy who played Vader.

Most meta moment of my life: watching The Day the Earth Stood Still and the time shown is the same time on the clock in our classroom.

Bernard Herman (created sci-fi music).

Guillermo del Toro was obsessed with Creature from the Black Lagoon and wanted there to be a version where the fish-man gets the girl. I give you Shape of Water.  

Editing:

“Just Give me a Reason”: explaining why you want to keep it, understanding why you should change it.

Authors appropriate wisdom to their characters.

Brit lit:

The issue is that sometimes myths are just other people’s truths.

Dylan Thomas poems: death is always in the subtext. Vernon Watkins: Wales is always in the subtext—ancient, beautiful, and haunted.

The ocean is a symbol for continuity and chaos.

Robert Frost and R.S. Thomas: Seem ordinary, but if you mine the simple phrases, you’ll hit profound meaning.

Steeped vs. layered in symbolism

Wales: A people warming their hands on the ashes of the past.

In some mining towns, the master owned the only clock, controlling even the minutes in the worker’s lives.

Steel=first blush of industrialism

Drinking deep from the authorial fallacy.

Icebergs are the hallmark of a great writer, rewarding those who explore the depths.

I don’t even know if my fingers will remember the keys…

The choice of narrator is always important

Eloquence in stubbornness (Border Country)

Publishing is so subjective.

Pursue the things that people care about.

SPOPL:

A lot of times, people just want to be heard.

Introversion was my secret and my strength

Don’t condemn your feelings

“You’re technically always motivated toward something, it just doesn’t always align with what needs to be done.”

“Idea debt” is wearing yourself down thinking about the action before you even take it.

Family Virtue Passion Humor Beauty

Creative Writing:

Everything is on the page for a reason

Art is theft: Everything’s a remix

Conveying information is boring in art.

We sacrifice convention for invention. –Manning poems

Ultimately, you still need to serve the project.

Free from the pressure of paying attention

Only about 20 lines of our 3,000 lines of daily conversation are worth writing.

“I am a convert to the character”

There’s a lot of work, but no lost work. It all means something somehow

Actors speak beyond who they really are all the time. So do writers.

You can’t really escape setting, no matter what you do.

All plots are a death march

Find the wisdom in front of you

You might be tempted to say “I can’t remember anything from my childhood, there’s nothing there.” No. Just try.

Advice:

“If you want to leave your worries behind you, try it” -Professor Perry on reading the Book of Mormon for stress-management.

Writers need to know that it’s going to be a rough go.

You can make your career, but it’s the work you come back to that must be what matters.

Giving the context of the other arguments is already halfway to a “so what.”

Don’t go crazy telling people how novel your idea is; let your insight speak for itself.

Don’t burn bridges. Don’t be afraid to ask questions (they can lead to great things). Keep your priorities and try.

Work to develop an openness to possibilities.

Quotes:

“It’s so bad, but it’s made with so much love and care, and somehow that makes it better.” Professor Perry

“One of the few ways to get fired from BYU is to break copyright laws.”—Professor Eastley

“Fiction feeds our desires to be really, really special.”—Professor Eastley

“I read the words and the words were nice.”—Professor Eastley on trying to understand Dylan Thomas

“If you can’t play Quidditch, you’re nobody.”—Professor Eastley

“First of all, are all Lemuels evil?”—class member

“He ran out of time: he died.”—Professor Eastley, explaining why Raymond Williams’ book is unfinished.

“It’s beautiful how eloquent plain speech in a paper can be.”—Professor Eastley

“People aren’t disposable.” –Becca. It’s not fair to erase contact just because you were offended.

“If I have another daughter, my comma life changes” –Professor Baker (no longer being able to use appositives). And then… he had another daughter.

“I have daffodils poking out on my porch , so that’s pretty awesome.” –Professor Baker.

“I love preparing people for their careers. Guys. Go forth and be awesome.” –Professor Baker.

“Two-year-olds say ‘no’. You just want to say, don’t you know I have a PhD? You should call me Dr. Dad!”

“I’ve had many comments of admiration and surprise regarding my attire.” –Professor Belnap

“I think you should aim high” –Professor Mason

When you’re talking about errors, you inevitably start making them.

“I can make my bread and win it, too” –Eliza, talking about Women in Business

“Money spent on books doesn’t count” –Publisher’s mom

“Read. Write. Be Kind.” –J. Adams

I used to feel this way and now I feel this way. “What unites us all is the struggle in between.” –Professor Tidwell

“Everyone’s got stuff. Everyone. When the weather changes in your internal world, acknowledge it and make the necessary adjustments.” –Dallas Jensen

“College is the last think in the clearly-defined script for your life. From here on out, it’s a choose-your-own-adventure novel.” –Dallas Jensen

“This source is in crayon. I’m not sure how credible it is.” –Professor Mason on footnoting citations

“Have I told you what I do when I go home at five? Whatever I want!” –Dallas Jensen, how life in a career is easier than life in college

“I like to write polished drafts and then finesse them.” –Professor Eastley

Ego is the anesthesia for stupidity

I’d rather have you aim high and miss than aim low and hit.

My musings:

A poet never retires because the images never let you go.

Rey could be from a Welsh poem—wanting awesome parents.

People don’t turn down the golden ticket.

Marvel characters are slowly losing the looks/objects that defined them and discovering a different kind of raw, unaided self.

“The sea was not wide then” –a time of old tales

I add my ink to everything

Can you really have that many fingers on a single pulse?

Sometimes we speak through omission; sometimes we place with empty space.

Nibblings=siblings kids (a cross between siblings and nieces/nephews)

We don’t write thankful notes anymore

Recommendations/Favorites:

E. M Forster’s “Howard’s End”

“His Girl Friday”

“Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” Dylan Thomas poem

“Autumn Elegy” Leslie Norris poem. Storing up summer and all it brings.

Marilyn Roberts: best prose writer of today (psychology of people)

“I am a Warrior Goddess”—Child empowerment book

“Tonight Dough” Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor

Wirecutters/sweethomes: website for maximizers

Grad school and associate professorship

Brandon Sanderson: “Steelheart”

Start reading the British news, "The Guardian"
"The Atonement" and "The Queen" (British Films)

Education in the Margins: Fall 2017

Any teacher, good or bad, can teach you more than the assigned subject-matter--if you pay attention. If I want to review specifics of my course, I can open my notebook and read through the pages. But scrawled in the margins of my notebooks are these life lessons that shouldn't be buried away. Welcome to the second edition of my 'Education in the Margins.'  (First edition is here.)

Classes

Shakespeare:

“How like a winter hath my absence been from thee” (Sonnet 97)

Where there’s a Will, there’s another will. (Looking at Shakespeare’s will)

Sonnet 55 could have been J.K Rowlings’ inspiration for horcruxes.

Merchant of Venice: “If exact compliance to the law (perfection) was required, we’d all be damned.”

“In a Shakespearean comedy, you’ll get two, three, even four couples… and one single person.” I AM that single person.

Assembling a cast of Measure for Measure using Star Wars Characters: Leia (Isabel), Luke (Claudio), Han (Duke), C3pO (Lucio), Padme (Marianna), Anikan (Angelo), Obiwan (Escalus), Chewbaca (Jailer), R2D2 (actual friar).

Kenneth Branagh—casting himself as main characters and re-distributing the best lines to his character. A lot like Lockhart. #mostaccuratecastingchoiceever

Someone should do a performative run of “out-of-context” Shakespeare scenes, because Henry and Kate could be played as HUGELY manipulative.

When Shakespeare’s making a point, he’ll make the point (you don’t have to read much into it other than just reading it).

There is ALWAYS more on Learning Suite.

Macbeth: Everybody is so dang ambitious.

Careful what you speculate about the lives of Shakespeare’s characters off-stage.

Problems come when parents don’t actually say they love their children. #dontassume

#fantheory The Fool runs away. He’s Merlin.(Lear) 😉

King Lear as Humpty-Dumpty

“Daddy, tell me a sad story”—how we deal with real-life tragedies. After seeing a tragedy, with feelings so raw… you abound in love for everyone.

There is language in the very gesture.

Historical accuracy wasn’t really a concern.

Hermione is #notdead

‘Time’ in The Winter’s Tale would be GREAT if played by The Doctor (preferably David Tennant).

Grammar

The only people who still use overhead projectors are University ELANG professors.

Words are like people.

We give ourselves away by the way we speak when we say a lie.

An expletive is just a word or group of words that are considered unnecessary to the sentence (i.e: “There are”). Therefore, expletives are expletive.

Grammar class: Teaching what you already know subconsciously.

Not impressed with a gorilla who signs. We do so much more with language.

He often discusses his impending insanity and expresses his fears that his personification of words will make him hallucinate poltergeists in his old age.

Editing

She looks like Mrs. Molar

“Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error.” (McKan’s Law)

“Those who read inhale the music of language.” And their papers are generally better because of it.

Educated people that are wise are usually not condescending.

Bad romance novels are “brain candy.”

Even editors need editors.

Real writing comes in re-writing.

Pay attention to your own language use.

I love when people wield words well.

We try to be perfect when we’re editors, but we don’t have to be perfect with our lives.

We love language, we’re nerds: This is a safe place.

God is no respecter of persons. D&C Sec. 42. (verses 80 and on). It actually says “He or She” #nonsexistlanguage

People who were overzealous and ill-equipped put language rules in place, and now we’re stuck with them. Be careful who you trust and who you follow.

Dead men speak through writing #literarypresenttense

Politician: does what the people want to be re-elected; Statesman: has a moral/guiding star.

The purpose of editing: Clear, correct, and their voice.

Editing is not for the faint of heart.

STET: Editing mark meaning ‘ignore previous suggestion.’ Can I use that in my life advice, too?

Usage changes with time. If you stubbornly persist in saying it wrong, in a few decades, you could be right.

Clarity trumps everything.

You can learn a lot by reading awful writing.

Art isn’t a movie—you have to choose to depict a moment in a painting or sculpture.

No enduring standards, just passionate preferences.

A language only has as much prestige as those who speak it.

“Everyone is self-conscious of their language because they know it’s revealing, and they don’t want to be found wanting.”

“There is some tension in the language these days.”

‘A language is a dialect with an army and navy”

Writing Tutoring

We are seduced by sentences, but we don’t always see when substance is missing.

Advice:

Always under-promise and over-deliver.

Don’t over-apologize for language mistakes.

“Always make it at least as painful for them as it might be for you” #parentingtips #familyrulefollowthrough

Musings:

I’m probably Edgar—naive enough not to suspect, trusting enough to believe, heroic, and…single. (King Lear)

The sudden turn from jealousy to repentance isn’t too unbelievable. Every falsehood has a breaking point. (Winter’s Tale)

Sustaining a prophet includes praying for him

Is the legend of King Arthur in the Holinshed chronicles?

Take-away:

 Look up Ian Mcellen reading “Tomorrow” soliloquy.

“A Rhetorical English Grammar” by Kohln

Watch Hitchcock, “Rope”

What is a “best man?” Historically, it was a swordsman to fight off your wife’s exes. #themoreyouknow #futureshowergames

Silva Rhetoric: ALL the figures of speech!

Communication is key (what makes a tragedy a tragedy).

Each BYU building reflects the people who study there.

References aren’t inherently funny—we make them funny.

Women were made of a better substance. Men were made of dirt, so… (the Eve conundrum).

Grad school?

European Studies Minor?

Quotes: 

“The first ones are all ‘get married’ sonnets, or, as I call them, the BYU sonnets.” -Prof. Young

“Often what we call ‘reason’ is coming up with reasons to justify your self-serving actions” -Prof. Young

“I’ve said it so often I could probably say it in my sleep. I probably have…” (talking about satire). -Prof. Young

“I’m going to risk hospitalization here, because this is very important” -Prof. Young *preparing to read a favorite passage even though his voice is lost.

“That’s what it means to be a director—destroying Shakespeare” -Prof. Young

“You’re in the University to become a scholar. If you’re just interested in money, you might as well drop out.”-Zach

“You should all do more with writing than get grades for it. The reason we do this is because we love the words.”-Zach

 “Go ahead, go to bed angry; all you’re going to do is lose sleep if you stay awake.”-Zach

 “Maybe the stars don’t like being defied” -Eliza

“I actually prefer a little voice in your papers, so I don’t feel like I’m alone when I’m grading.” -Professor Harrison

 “Beware of Modals! They used to be real verbs…” why modals “haunt” us. -Prof. Oaks

I can deal with modals, I will deal with modals, and so you understand me perfectly, I have dealt with modals.” -D. Oaks.

“If you have a gospel question, just put it on a shelf—the answer will come in time.” -D.Oaks

“You are living in a time of language change” -D.Oaks

“I allow my kids a certain degree of grammar violation.” -Prof. Oaks

“I don’t try very hard to be cool, because I know it would never work.”-D. Oaks.

““That’s part of learning: you blow some brain circuits. But later, you go back and patch them up. My goal is to make your brain more wrinkly” -D. Oaks

“That’s where I got wrinkles on my forehead instead of on my brain.” -D. Oaks

I will not be intimidated by English grammar!” -D. Oaks

“If we’re looking at colons, that means we’re doing a colonoscopy” -D. Oaks *students: collective groan*

 “Men must endure their going hence, even as their coming hither.” (Lear, 5.2.9-11, also on C.S. Lewis’ tomb)

“You write about yourself because it is conclusive evidence that you have lived.”-Azur Nafisi

“Posterity shall never believe the romance of our lives” –Abigail Adams (different meanings of ‘romance.’ Not just ‘love life,’ but adventure, numinousness, and wonder.)

“If a group could stoop so low as to accept me into it, is it really that great?” -Neitch

Words: 

Mitigate

Numinous. 

Zombe: African word for ‘God’ is the root for our word ‘zombie.’

Education in the Margins

I'm a big note-taker. But not everything I write down or learn is strictly related to the course. Much of life-long learning comes from this, 'education in the margins.'

ELANG 223 (Intro to linguistics)

We (our thoughts) are not prisoners of language systems

Linguistics is to help learn how you do what you do unconsciously with language.

Latin is dead because no one speaks it.

All linguistic distinctoins are female oriented, "mother-tongue" and "sister-language"

'pet' is an animal in English, and a "fart" in Catalan. #themoreyouknow...

You want to talk "melting pot?" Let's go Linguistics! English-Germanic-romantic borrowings. 

*we can't hear things very well.

Words are like people; they hang out with certain groups, the "snapshot'" of the past/histpry of words shows both change and similarity. Also... people get 'stressed,' too.

Everybody's sort-of unusual

Dr. Seuss is basically one big lesson on minimal pairs (hop on pop)

Days of the week are for the Roman Gods, even across many languages. Also, we totally ruined the calender by adding July (Julius Caesar) and August (Augustus) because otherwise the months would have corresponded with their numbers. September (7) October (8) November (9) and December (12).

The "daisy" is so named because it resembles the "day's eye", the sun.

The answer isn't in the reading... it's in the connection.

utterance pairs. "I love you" ... "I know."

NORM is an acronym for "non-mobile older rural males"

"He who has two languages has two souls." -Anonymous

Spanish

Èl que madruga, Dios le ayuda

No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano

Todos los problemas son masculinos (el problema, el trauma, etc)

El amor no se pierde de repente

English 294

Everyone here is depressed and anxious, It makes great writing.
Museum science? Wordsworth Trust?
It's a global story.
We choose our history with a selective memory.
Survival itself is ennobling.
"Miserable comforters are ye all." -Job 12:2
Even if we have faith, it still hurts to lose things.
#listening to Hamilton
We make the mistake of forgetting that heroes are human.
We go to the book but revise it as the times need--> continued revelation
Poets: those professional imaginers.
There's a different Gospel for adults; it's more complicated. (The Tyger)
Irony is classy sarcasm
Tell me that there's more to it. I'll try to find it.
Tip for the future: memorize poems you like.
"The collective emails of Nicolas Mason"-future contribution to the world.
"They fought violently when together, but corresponded affectionately enough when apart" Intro to Romantic Period.
"Darkness! No parents! Filthy rich... kinda makes it better"-Lord ByBatman
Persuasion: Oh the many ways in which I am Anne...
Jane Austen is a Chinese diver--perfectly executed complex and twisting dives.
Would-be fiances with bad names: Harris Bigg-Wither (Jane Austen) and Fanny Brawne (Keats)
You've got the resources here to become a good writer and a good reader, but sometimes you've got to go the extra step on your own.
Vegetable experiences (it's good for you, but you don't enjoy it). Feeling down on yourself? One of Shelly's books only sold 6 copies.
You can contribute to the start of a war... just by writing a novel.
"But I was found wanting for what I wanted so badly... All but the tallest mortals." #akaDavid
Someone should write an essay on Poetry and TB (Poe and Keats)
Pobre POEcito.
"he read omnivorously" ?
A well-written satire's meaning isn't written on its sleeve.
My inner child comes alive in the face of conflict--and I shrink.
Mormons are the last Victorians
Maggie Smith as Lady Bracknal? SO cool!
If only Geologists would leave me alone... (?)
Utilitarian ideas: study only science and that which is seen as "useful" and you'll end up with depression. Beauty is truth, truth beauty. You can't divorce yourself of the humanities. God created apple blossoms, not just apples.
There are entire genres of literature that are 'hard to read'.
As I speak, I am aware of more than my intended audience (me)
Idea: Birthday list of dead literary figures, "Congrats! You've out-lasted Austen!"
Played a song from Better than Ezra, which is relevant because...? T.S Elliot is "better than Ezra (Pound). #savage #Englishmajorjokes
Right after Trump's election, '1984' became the Amazon best-seller.
Black culture and language was drowned in the middle passage.
I don't know where all of these strangely prophetic barmen come from. (Jazz Age writers)
"It was in language that the slave was perhaps most successfully imprisoned by his master, and it was in his (mis-)use of it that he perhaps most effectively rebelled."-Brathwaite
novels and movies are complicit in colonizing the mind.
Register for a bookstore for your wedding.
Dr. Mason's excited stutter. Is he left handed?
You've got to do your intellectual family history.
5 spiritual people can read/watch something, some can have a good, spiritual experience/enlightenment and some will feel spiritually uneasy. We have different thresholds, the spirit relates to us differently and is offended in some ways always and someways...not. Personal and spiritual decisions. (Erying Q&A)
The big goal of this class at the end of the day is to provide a framework for future reading.
Nothing explains everything.
We gave it to you, it's up to you to maintain
You can't be a good writer without being a life-long reader.

Quotes from Professors:

"Daffodils are, like, the greatest things in my life in March... except for family and God and the occasional colleague, that's you Emron."-N.M
"We don't have history with a capital "H" because many histories, many perspectives, matter."-E. Esplin
"Happy Disney. Pre- 'Rogue One' Disney."
"We are all Jane Austen characters." -Nick Mason
"Authors are like stocks, they rise and fall in value over time."-Nick Mason
"My brain tells me I'm a genius!" "Let's all stop ogling."
"This is a Costco sampling. Now go by a bulk-sized version for your family and spend the rest of your life eating it."
"If your cemetery doesn't have evergreens, go petition them."-N. Mason
"When people live in the same space, they have kids together"-prof.
"Stories still fill a huge part of our recreational lives." N.M
"I'm extremely hot today, Emron's gone, not it's MY time."
"I don't think I've ever cried in class in my whole life before now"-N.M (talking about his dad's hidden faith crisis).
"I don't mean to critique anyone's family model. I DO mean to have you not critique anyone else's family model." E.Esplin
"I wrote 2 volumes on ambiguity... maybe it was therapy."-Dallin Oaks
"I will give you all kinds of strategies for being socially awkward"
"I sort-of feel like a magician. i show you tongue-defying acts."
"Sometimes creativity resides in knowing the rules and then artfully violating them."
"It's COOL."
¡Hay sufrimiento en la vida! -Hna. Bonyata
"There's education, and then there's exams." -Prof. Dorius (suggesting that they're not equatable)

Advice

Did you have an interview with the press? Ask to see the article before it's published. (saves a lot of headache later)
The average person nowadays has 10-12 jobs over a lifetime (AH!) so don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone.
Second-language fluency is a 10-15% pay increase.

Musings 

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Neither did. God did.

Write something on "Men and Pens: How Girls Date" (not sure where I wanted to go with that.)

"Dragons of Berk" instead of "DreamWorks" with Hiccup on Toothless instead of the boy on the moon.

"Popular" as done by men: "I'll teach you the proper tricks when you talk to chicks, manly ways to flirt and flex... it really isn't that complex, being POPULAR."
Prose and poetry are more similar than we think. Prose can be adapted into poetry. Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge.
The Tables Turned: "How sweet thus to lie in the grave, to hear the peaceful sounds of the earth, and just to know that our dear friends were near." -D. Wordsworth
The very things you think define you change... that's growing up? 

Take-Away

Langston Hughes reads "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"; Vincent Price reads "The Raven?" gotta look that one up!
Movies: "Bright Star" about Keats; Dr. Strangelove "Exit through the giftshop" film, street art. HomeStarRunner... the pre-youtube thing.
"El Cid: la leyenda"
Words: Cabalistic, evenescent
Books: "Devil's Dictionary," Ambrose Bierce; Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace, "Oda al Dia Feliz"

Same song, second verse.

And after a while, being ‘ok’ wasn't an act anymore. Everything was basically back to normal.
Because if there’s one thing I’m good at… it’s being myself. 

I like love songs. But I've never lived one before.

Video clip might be here.

LBD video clip here

EA video clip here

I have always loved these types of scenes. 

But being on the receiving end of such sentiments is a totally different experience.

The End of A Semester.

At the end of the semester, after spending approximately 80 hours with one teacher, it is expected that you learn a lot about the subject. But in that time, you also learn a lot about the teacher, if you care to notice. Last semester I cared to notice. I remember things that define the character and heart of a person. Another way to really get to know a person, is to listen. Now you are probably thinking, but Alayna, aren't you supposed to listen to your teachers? Why yes! I am glad you asked. But if you are always listening, you'll hear something special. And so, for this reason, I have compiled a list of "Teacher Quotes." Things teachers say when they think you aren't listening, or won't remember. It says a lot about a person..... that, and some of them are really funny.

Ms. Welsing: "I have a blind autistic kid in second hour who was able to do this (better than you.)" 9/30/11
Oh, the woes of an art teacher.

Mr. Bressler: "I don't like teachers. I'm an educator. Teachers are babysitters with books."  9/9/11

Mr. Eubank: "I'd like to take his scrawny little pony tail, and yank a little knot in it." 10/6/11
Some background is needed for this quote to make sense. This is when Bonanza was going through the terrible scheduling disaster, and they were trying to shove more kids into his already over-full third period AP class. The counselor in charge of these schedules has a pony tail.

Mr. Bressler: "Yes. Feel free to worship me."
The same schedule-freak-out-day, everyone was talking, and shouting out, and asking questions about all of this stuff, and once everything settled down, Mr. Bressler told us something. To prevent the councilors from combining all of the AP classes and ruining peoples' schedules ( Honor Physics, Student Council, etc.), Mr. Bressler volunteered to give up his Creative Writing class. He has been fighting to get this class for his entire career at Bonanza, and he gave it up for us. Now he is stuck teaching English 2 that period. My respect for him went through the roof, which inspired the transcription of this quote.

Ms. Barnish: "I talked to God this morning. He said he's busy, and doesn't want teenagers to call him out or use his name in vain."  12/7/11

Br. Bressler: "Is this national kiss-up day, or something?"  12/9/11

Ms. Barnish: "Hindsight is 20-20. Foresight is ... narrow-sighted." 1/4/12

When a girl in my class asked if Mr.Bressler wanted a cupcake. It was her birthday.
Girl: "Do you want a cupcake?"
Mr. Bressler: "No thank you. I'm allergic."
Girl: "To what?"
Mr. Bressler: "Kindness."                                          Epic.

Mr. Bressler: "I'm an 'equal opportunity' hater."

Mr. Eubank: "It's all in how you view the squares"      <--- relating to different viewpoints of history.

And there you go.

Riddle me.

If I were to attend every college that is e-mailing me right now, I would probably be a student for the rest of my  life. That is all

Every door is an opportunity, a new direction your life could take. I have a whole lot of doors, but they are all only half-open. (Or if they are like the e-mails, then most of them aren't open at all.)

One metaphor, one pun. Now I am done.                       <--(The rhyme was free.)

The diagnosis

Lots on my mind.

As I obsess over different options and paths I have finally figured out why. I keep thinking of different ways to make it "work." But there really is nothing I can do about it. It is 'out of my jurisdiction.' I see a way to fix it to my liking, but am powerless to action

The root of the problem. I am a control freak.

The next step.... treatment.... much harder.